2021 Caillou Blanc, Château Talbot, Bordeaux

Grass and green peas on the nose, a creamy touch to the fruits, a little sombre at this point, just in terms of less overt acidity, but this has a pleasing weight and gentle coursing of flavour with a viscous texture. Some honeyed almond, pineapple and red apple touches, too. I like the overall weight and texture; it is just a little less lively and focused than some.

Drink 2022 - 2030

The 2021 Caillou Blanc Talbot was picked September 14–16 and matured in 30% new oak. It has an attractive nose of orange pith and light apricot scents. The palate is well balanced with a pleasing fatness, not amazingly complex, yet the 27% Sémillon lends a lovely honeyed texture on the finish.

“It was a tricky vintage, but we made 44hL/ha as we are not organic,” Jean-Michel Laporte, Technical Director at Château Talbot, told me. “Unusually, we de-leafed at the end of August, which was helpful for [grape] maturity and easing botrytis pressure. It gave us another few days to wait before picking. We began harvest a week after our neighbours, so we had to be quick at the end and continued to pick over the weekend. We had been anxious about the rains but only had 8mm. I wanted to avoid astringency in the wine, but we did a bit more extraction than planned.”

Drink 2024 - 2034